In sociology, social facts are values, cultural norms, and social structures that transcend the individual and can exercise social control. The French sociologist Émile Durkheim defined the term, and argued that the discipline of sociology should be understood as the empirical study of social facts. For Durkheim, social facts "consist of manners of acting, thinking and feeling external to the individual, which are invested with a coercive power by virtue of which they exercise control over him."[1]
In The Rules of Sociological Method Durkheim laid out a theory of sociology as "the science of social facts". He considered social facts to "consist of representations and actions" which meant that "they cannot be confused with organic phenomena, nor with physical phenomena, which have no existence save in and through the individual consciousness."[1] Durkheim says that a social fact is a thing that many people do very similarly because the socialized community that they belong to has influenced them to do these things.[2]
Durkheim defined the social fact this way:
"A social fact is any way of acting, whether fixed or not, capable of exerting over the individual an external constraint;
or:
which is general over the whole of a given society whilst having an existence of its own, independent of its individual manifestations".[1]
He viewed it as a concrete idea that affected a person's everyday life.[3]
Durkheim's examples of social facts included social institutions such as kinship and marriage, currency, language, religion, political organization, and all societal institutions we must account for in everyday interactions with other members of our societies. Deviating from the norms of such institutions makes the individual unacceptable or misfit in the group.
Among the most noted of Durkheim's work was his discovery of the "social fact" of suicide rates. By carefully examining police suicide statistics in different districts, Durkheim demonstrated that the suicide rate of Catholic communities is lower than that of Protestant communities. He ascribed this to a social (as opposed to individual) cause.[4] This was considered groundbreaking and remains influential.
Durkheim's discovery of social facts was significant because it promised to make it possible to study the behaviour of entire societies, rather than just of particular individuals. Durkheim points to individual actions as instances or representations of different types of actions in society.[5] Some contemporary, interpretivist, sociologists like Max Atkinson and Jack Douglas refer to Durkheim's studies for two quite different purposes, however:
Durkheim's studies are graphic demonstrations of how careful the social researcher must be to ensure that data gathered for analysis are accurate. Durkheim's reported suicide rates were, it is now clear, largely an artifact of the way particular deaths were classified as "suicide" or "non-suicide" by different communities. What he actually discovered was not different suicide rates at all—but different ways of thinking about suicide.
His studies are also an entry point into the study of social meaning—and the way that apparently identical individual acts often cannot be classified empirically. Social acts (even such an apparently private and individual act as suicide), in this modern view, are always seen (and classified) by social actors. Discovering the social facts about such acts, it follows, is generally neither possible nor desirable—but discovering the way individuals perceive and classify particular acts is what offers insight. A further complication is introduced by asking about the status of our "discovery" of these perceptions and classifications. After all, don't such "discoveries" also reflect socially embedded practices of classification? But if the alleged discoveries of perceptions of social facts aren't therefore dubious, it is hard to see why the original claims about the social facts are.[6][7]
Mauss's total social factedit
For Marcel Mauss (Durkheim's nephew and sometime collaborator) a total social fact (French fait social total) is "an activity that has implications throughout society, in the economic, legal, political, and religious spheres".[8] Diverse strands of social and psychological life are woven together through what he came to call total social facts. A total social fact informs and organizes seemingly quite distinct practices and institutions.[9]Marcel Mauss popularized the term in his book, The Gift:
These phenomena are at once legal, economic, religious, aesthetic, morphological and so on. They are legal in that they concern individual and collective rights, organized and diffuse morality; they may be entirely obligatory, or subject simply to praise or disapproval. They are at once political and domestic, being of interest both to classes and to clans and families. They are religious; they concern true religion, animism, magic and diffuse religious mentality. They are economic, for the notions of value, utility, interest, luxury, wealth, acquisition, accumulation, consumption and liberal and sumptuous expenditure are all present...[10]
^ abcDurkheim, Émile (1982) [1st pub. 1895]. Lukes, Steven (ed.). The Rules of Sociological Method and Selected Texts on Sociology and its Method. W. D. Halls (translator). New York: Free Press.
^"Emile Durkheim: What Is a Social Fact?". www.csudh.edu. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
^Durkheim, Emile (1982). "What is a Social Fact". The Rules of Sociological Method: 74.
^Schmaus, Warren (1994). Durkheim's Philosophy of Science and the Sociology of Knowledge: Creating an Intellectual Niche. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press. p. 38. ISBN978-0226742519.
^"Deviance and Social Control Unit M5: Suicide (2)" (PDF).
^Douglas, Jack D. (1967). Social Meanings of Suicide. Princeton University Press. ISBN9780691621173.
Edgar, Andrew. (1999). "Cultural Anthropology". in Edgar, Andrew and Sedgwick, Peter R. (eds.). Key Concepts in Cultural Theory. New York: Routledge. ISBN978-0-415-11404-2
Edgar, Andrew. (2002). "Mauss, Marcel (1872–1950)". in Edgar, Andrew and Sedgwick, Peter R. (eds.). Cultural Theory: the Key Thinkers. New York: Routledge. ISBN978-0-415-23281-4
Mauss, Marcel. (1966). The gift; forms and functions of exchange in archaic societies. London: Cohen & West.
Further readingedit
Shaffer, L. S. (2006). "Durkheim's aphorism, the Justification Hypothesis, and the nature of social facts". Sociological Viewpoints, fall issue, 57–70. Full text.
External linksedit
at the Wayback Machine (archived October 3, 2012) From Émile Durkheim, The Rules of the Sociological Method, (Edited by Steven Lukes; translated by W. D. Halls). New York: Free Press, 1982, pp. 50–59.
December 15, 2023
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Social fact news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message In sociology social facts are values cultural norms and social structures that transcend the individual and can exercise social control The French sociologist Emile Durkheim defined the term and argued that the discipline of sociology should be understood as the empirical study of social facts For Durkheim social facts consist of manners of acting thinking and feeling external to the individual which are invested with a coercive power by virtue of which they exercise control over him 1 Contents 1 Durkheim s social fact 2 Mauss s total social fact 3 See also 4 References 5 Sources 6 Further reading 7 External linksDurkheim s social fact editIn The Rules of Sociological Method Durkheim laid out a theory of sociology as the science of social facts He considered social facts to consist of representations and actions which meant that they cannot be confused with organic phenomena nor with physical phenomena which have no existence save in and through the individual consciousness 1 Durkheim says that a social fact is a thing that many people do very similarly because the socialized community that they belong to has influenced them to do these things 2 Durkheim defined the social fact this way A social fact is any way of acting whether fixed or not capable of exerting over the individual an external constraint or dd which is general over the whole of a given society whilst having an existence of its own independent of its individual manifestations 1 He viewed it as a concrete idea that affected a person s everyday life 3 Durkheim s examples of social facts included social institutions such as kinship and marriage currency language religion political organization and all societal institutions we must account for in everyday interactions with other members of our societies Deviating from the norms of such institutions makes the individual unacceptable or misfit in the group Among the most noted of Durkheim s work was his discovery of the social fact of suicide rates By carefully examining police suicide statistics in different districts Durkheim demonstrated that the suicide rate of Catholic communities is lower than that of Protestant communities He ascribed this to a social as opposed to individual cause 4 This was considered groundbreaking and remains influential Durkheim s discovery of social facts was significant because it promised to make it possible to study the behaviour of entire societies rather than just of particular individuals Durkheim points to individual actions as instances or representations of different types of actions in society 5 Some contemporary interpretivist sociologists like Max Atkinson and Jack Douglas refer to Durkheim s studies for two quite different purposes however Durkheim s studies are graphic demonstrations of how careful the social researcher must be to ensure that data gathered for analysis are accurate Durkheim s reported suicide rates were it is now clear largely an artifact of the way particular deaths were classified as suicide or non suicide by different communities What he actually discovered was not different suicide rates at all but different ways of thinking about suicide His studies are also an entry point into the study of social meaning and the way that apparently identical individual acts often cannot be classified empirically Social acts even such an apparently private and individual act as suicide in this modern view are always seen and classified by social actors Discovering the social facts about such acts it follows is generally neither possible nor desirable but discovering the way individuals perceive and classify particular acts is what offers insight A further complication is introduced by asking about the status of our discovery of these perceptions and classifications After all don t such discoveries also reflect socially embedded practices of classification But if the alleged discoveries of perceptions of social facts aren t therefore dubious it is hard to see why the original claims about the social facts are 6 7 Mauss s total social fact editFor Marcel Mauss Durkheim s nephew and sometime collaborator a total social fact French fait social total is an activity that has implications throughout society in the economic legal political and religious spheres 8 Diverse strands of social and psychological life are woven together through what he came to call total social facts A total social fact informs and organizes seemingly quite distinct practices and institutions 9 Marcel Mauss popularized the term in his book The Gift These phenomena are at once legal economic religious aesthetic morphological and so on They are legal in that they concern individual and collective rights organized and diffuse morality they may be entirely obligatory or subject simply to praise or disapproval They are at once political and domestic being of interest both to classes and to clans and families They are religious they concern true religion animism magic and diffuse religious mentality They are economic for the notions of value utility interest luxury wealth acquisition accumulation consumption and liberal and sumptuous expenditure are all present 10 See also edit nbsp Society portalDominant ideology Sociological positivismReferences edit a b c Durkheim Emile 1982 1st pub 1895 Lukes Steven ed The Rules of Sociological Method and Selected Texts on Sociology and its Method W D Halls translator New York Free Press Emile Durkheim What Is a Social Fact www csudh edu Retrieved 2016 02 09 Durkheim Emile 1982 What is a Social Fact The Rules of Sociological Method 74 Durkheim E Suicide 1897 Schmaus Warren 1994 Durkheim s Philosophy of Science and the Sociology of Knowledge Creating an Intellectual Niche Chicago Univ of Chicago Press p 38 ISBN 978 0226742519 Deviance and Social Control Unit M5 Suicide 2 PDF Douglas Jack D 1967 Social Meanings of Suicide Princeton University Press ISBN 9780691621173 Edgar 1999 64 Edgar 2002 157 Mauss 1966 76 77Sources editEdgar Andrew 1999 Cultural Anthropology in Edgar Andrew and Sedgwick Peter R eds Key Concepts in Cultural Theory New York Routledge ISBN 978 0 415 11404 2 Edgar Andrew 2002 Mauss Marcel 1872 1950 in Edgar Andrew and Sedgwick Peter R eds Cultural Theory the Key Thinkers New York Routledge ISBN 978 0 415 23281 4 Mauss Marcel 1966 The gift forms and functions of exchange in archaic societies London Cohen amp West Further reading editShaffer L S 2006 Durkheim s aphorism the Justification Hypothesis and the nature of social facts Sociological Viewpoints fall issue 57 70 Full text External links editWhat is a Social Fact at the Wayback Machine archived October 3 2012 From Emile Durkheim The Rules of the Sociological Method Edited by Steven Lukes translated by W D Halls New York Free Press 1982 pp 50 59 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Social fact amp oldid 1179914991, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
